Live: France will ban 'illegitimate' protests in coming days, says Macron
Özet haber: French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that "illegitimate" protests would be banned in the coming days, while those from organised groups such as unions would be offered alternative paths for the marches to protect businesses. The government has said it will put French soldiers in the street after rioting and looting broke out on the fringes of mass peaceful demonstrations over the weekend. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday he would convene a meeting of key ministers ahead of weekend demonstrations, after earlier protests descended into some of the country's worst street violence in years.
"A defence council meeting will be convened tomorrow (Friday) under my chairmanship, and we will take further decisions," Macron said, adding that only union-organised protests would be authorised during nationwide demonstrations on Saturday.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that "illegitimate" protests would be banned in coming days, while those from organised groups such as unions would be offered alternative paths for the marches to protect businesses. Macron was speaking after meeting with intelligence officials and senior ministers earlier in the day to discuss the crisis.
He also said that "seditious" ultra-left groups as well as vandals were behind last Saturday's riots and looting across France.
France will ban protests that are not organised by unions in the coming days, said French President Emmanuel Macron in an address from the Élysée Palace on Thursday. Seditious ultra-left groups were behind Saturday's riots and planned to "bring down the Republic", the president added.
Police have arrested a 66-year-old man in La Creuse suspected of being involved in the fire that gutted the Limoges town hall Saturday, the public prosecutor's office said.Police on Tuesday arrested a man in his 30s, who has since been charged with the attempted murder of the police officers who were present in the building when it was set on fire.
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Officials have banned "all demonstrations" in France's third-biggest city of Lyon on Saturday.The prefecture for the Rhone region said on Thursday in a statement to media that, "given the events of October 17, the prefect has decided to ban by decree all demonstrations in the city of Lyon this Saturday, October 24".
Steven Erlanger, the chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe for the New York Times, told FRANCE 24 that mounting economic frustration, generational inequality and declining confidence in established political leadership were all contributing to the growing protest movements taking root across Europe. Watch the full interview by clicking on the player below.
The number of law enforcement officers deployed during the nationwide demonstrations planned for the coming Saturday will be 20 percent higher than October 17, an official from France's Interior Ministry said. “We are at a deployment level that is 20 percent higher than it was last week,” Jean-Didier Berger said on BFMTV news network.
He added that the planned security measures would be reinforced by soldiers from the Sentinelle anti-terrorism force, elite police and gendarmerie units such as the RAID, GIGN, and BRI, as well as helicopters and armoured vehicles. Around 60,000 police officers and gendarmes were mobilised across the country on October 17.
